The first X-Men movie was filmed on the cheap. The film's budget was a measly $75 million, so they couldn't afford good effects, or even as many effects shots as the film should have had. When it was being filmed Bryan Singer gave interviews where he said that Fox slashed his desired budget and forced him to remove many of the planned FX shots to save money. As a result, the characters never used their powers in any impressive way. There were no huge storms, Iceman never iced up, Magneto bent a little metal here and there, and the finale was somewhat of a letdown.

Yeah they didn't have much budget but to be fair, the visual effects of the first X-Men movie didn't look bad at all. The production design of the Cerebro/the subbasement of the X-Mansion/the headquarters of the Brotherhood looked good. I thought the make-up for Mystique/Sabretooth/Toad good. Plus they hired good actors for the movie.

__________________2017 films - best to worst
Wonder Woman, Planet of the Apes, Guardians of the Galaxy, Spider-Man, Logan, Kong, Fast & Furious, Cars, Alien, Beauty and the Beast, Power Rangers, Resident Evil, The Mummy, Pirates of the Caribbean, Ghost in the Shell, Underworld, Transformers